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Montblanc launched the new Donation pen recently, honouring George Gershwin. We made a small video about this new edition of Montblanc on our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMkDeMGr6LU Enjoy watching!

~ On Saturday, 23 April, 2016, I went to the Montblanc boutique in the China World Trade Center in Beijing, after teaching a morning class in the Peking University School of Life Sciences. I’d been invited to what had been described as a “small VIP event”, which I mistakenly supposed would relate to the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. The event was to introduce the Rouge et Noir Special Edition Heritage pens. A waiter served superb canapés while Mozart concerti provided a pleasant musical atmosphere. A skilled calligrapher from the Beijing Calligraphy Association wrote couplets for guests. Costume props representing more than one century ago were provided for guest photos against a backdrop of the Opéra de Paris interior. I was shown two of the Peggy Guggenheim Patron of Art fountain pens. The large scale guidebook introducing the pens had images of Ms. Guggenheim with her Lhasa Apsos. An offhand remark to the highly skilled sales representative, who has sold me more than ten Montblanc pens, resulted in the purchase of the Johann Strauss Donation Pen. The ‘M’ nib in champagne gold features a stylized bat in honor of Strauss’s operetta, ‘Die Fledermaus’. The clip on the cap resembles a stringed instrument bow. The size of the pen is a good fit for my large hands, while the relatively light weight makes it an ideal pen for daily use. The design is especially attractive, contrasting well with ten other Montblanc fountain pens. After inking it with Montblanc’s Midnight Blue ink, it smoothly writes on various types of paper. Once again, Montblanc’s quality and ingenuity have pleased me. Tom K. Writing Sample Presentation Box In the Box Side-by-Side Johann Strauss Donation Pen Champagne Gold Medium Nib Die Fledermaus Nib Stringed Instrument Bow Clip

As indicated in the recent POA topic, Montblanc is releasing donation pen in wood made from the only tree left standing in a forest in Tohoku after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake. Price is going to be about $4400 (520K Yen) with 20% going to support the relief efforts. You can find more details here. Here's a shot of the pen that's circulating with the various news stories, this one taken from Japan Today: There's no indication as to whether the pen is a 149 or 146 size, but I generally like the design that (at least to me) takes a lot from the Aubrac, which is not surprising since it's the only other recent MB pen that I know is made of wood. (and yes, I remembered the Humbolt) I'm not sure if the star is a regular resin star or an MOP star. One interesting quote from the article is: This seems pretty weird, since i) I never heard about production issues with the wood used in the Aubrac and ii) Japanese pen makers have been making fountain pens for years in wood. (Pilot makes wonderful pens out of Japanese maple). You'd think that MB might have asked Pilot or Sailor for a few tips... PS: Mods - I wasn't sure if this should be posted in the MB forum or the Japan forum; feel free to move if necessary...